Wireless enabled device

ABSTRACT

The invention described herein provides an embedded wireless device such as a RFID tag molded into separate housing formed of any thermoplastic material compatible to that of the plastic material as the device to which the housing is to be attached. Subsequently, the housed tag assembly can be thermally bonded onto the device through many means which are well known and accepted in the industry.

CROSS-REFERENCED RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/873,712 filed Dec. 8, 2006 which is hereby incorporated by referencein it's entirety.

The present invention relates to a product and method of making such adevice for encapsulating a wireless component and securing it to athermoplastic surface of a desired device. More particularly, it relatesto a product and method of making such a device for encapsulating awireless component, such as an RFID tag, and securing it to athermoplastic surface of a desired device such as a filter or filtercapsule, biobag and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Due to many factors including increased use of manufacturing control anddocumentation systems, lot traceability, ease of use and itemidentification, customers require item specific information such ascatalog number, lot and serial identification for each filter, media andcomponent used in their process. Currently, techniques such as printing,engraving, laser marking, labeling and bar-coding are used to transferthis information to customers.

For filter cartridges and other products which are wholly in the fluidpath during use, adhesives, inks or any foreign matter are extremelyundesirable as they may leach extractable matter into the final productwhich needs to be identified, quantified and if at too high a levelremoved. Therefore engraving and laser marking are currently preferredto identify filter cartridges. Unfortunately, this requires the end userto manually read and write down or key in information. This process issubject to error because the engraving is difficult to read on thetranslucent part. Because of number of times a cartridge needs to betracked through receiving, multiple uses, storage and disposal,customers are in need of a better way.

The use of wireless tags such as RFID tags is just being explored as apotential solution. Such tags generally comprise a wireless transponderof some type and an antenna, both of which are mounted to a card orother substrate and generally encapsulated in epoxy or urethane. Thesetags have been adhered to products through the use of adhesives,especially self-stick adhesives. The issue of adhesives especially inthe fluid path remains. Additionally, adhesives tend to degrade overtime and may fail losing the tag and making the entire systemunworkable.

Recent advances in in-mold labeling combined with wirelessidentification technology offer a solution to the problem by eliminatingtraditional adhesive wireless tags and embedding wireless tags into thedevice itself, isolating it from the fluid streams. However, the toolingto make such a change is costly and needs to be specific to each partmodified with a tag, thus slowing adoption and implementation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention described herein solves this problem by providing anembedded wireless device, such as a RFID tag or Zigbee device, moldedinto separate housing formed of any thermoplastic material which iscompatible with the plastic material of the device to which the tag andhousing is to be attached. Subsequently, the tag assembly can be bondedsuch as by thermal bonding, solvent bonding or adhesive bonding, ontothe device as is well known in the industry.

Preferably one surface of the housing has two or more spaced apartprotrusions which center and aid in the attachment of the housing to thedevice. More preferably, these protrusions act as energy directors thatare preferentially melted and used to attach the housing to the device.In addition, these protrusions also form the bulk of the necessarysacrificial material for mechanical attachment.

The end result is that the user has to accept no new materials intotheir processes and can leverage all the benefits of wireless technologyon a multitude of products.

A further advantage to this device is that next generation wireless tagswill provide customers with real time process information byincorporating sensors into the tag. These tags will need to be in thefluid path and having a universal means of attachment with the fewestnew materials of construction will be a great advantage.

In one embodiment, the protrusions are made of thermoplastic and arebonded by an energy based heating such as ultrasonic or vibrationwelding. The protrusions act as energy directors and preferentiallyabsorb the energy at their surfaces adjacent the device against whichthey have been placed to form a molten thermoplastic plastic bondbetween the housing and the device. In this embodiment, thethermoplastic of the housing and the device to which it is attached mustbe compatible and be capable of bonding to each other. In anotherembodiment, they are compatible and one has a lower melting point thanthe other. In a further embodiment, they are compatible and theprotrusions have a lower melting point than the device surface. In anadditional embodiment the plastics are the same.

Suitable thermoplastics include but are not limited to polyethylene,polypropylene, EVA copolymers, alpha olefins and metallocene copolymers,PFA, MFA, polycarbonate, vinyl copolymers such as PVC, polyamides suchas nylon, polyesters, acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS),polysulphone, polyethersulphone, polyarylsulphone, polyphenylsulphone,polyacrylonitrile, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and blends thereof.

IN THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a portion of the device containing the recess inperspective view.

FIG. 2 shows a portion of the device containing the recess and thewireless component in the recess in perspective view.

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of the housing with the wireless componentin the recess and covered by the second piece of the housing incross-sectional view.

FIG. 4 shows one preferred embodiment of an outer surface of the devicecontaining the protrusions in perspective view.

FIG. 5 shows one preferred embodiment of the present invention mountedagainst a surface to which it is to be bonded in perspective view;

FIG. 6A-6E show other embodiments of the outer surface of the devicecontaining the protrusions in perspective view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a molded housing 2 with a first closed surface 4 and arecess 6 for the receipt of a wireless device (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows a wireless device 8 in the recess 6 of the housing 2. Inthis particular example, the wireless device is a RFID tag and antennaassembly although it could be any device that uses wireless protocolslike Zigbee, Bluetooth, or WUSB.

The recess is then sealed by a cover 10 preferably formed of the sameplastic as the housing 2 although all the cover 10 need be is compatiblewith the plastic of the housing 2 so it can be sealed in a liquid tightmanner to the housing. The cover 10 of the housing can be a separatelymolded or pre-formed piece that is attached to the housing 2 at the rim12 by heat, ultrasonic or vibration welding, adhesive, solvent bondingand the like. Alternatively and preferably, it can be molded directlyover the wireless device and recess such as by injection molding.

Preferably, one surface of the device, either the first closed surface 4of the housing 2 or a surface 14 of the cover 10 as shown in FIG. 4 (inthis instance as shown it is the cover 14) has two or more protrusions16 formed on it and these protrusions 16 extend away from the surface14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 is shown one preferred style in which thereare three protrusions 16A, B and C, two of which 16A and C are the samesize, shape and other dimensions. The third protrusion 16B is ofdifferent size and other dimensions, in this embodiment, by height andlength. This style of device allows one to place the encapsulatedwireless component (not shown) in the housing 2 against either a flat 18or a rounded surface 20 of a device (not shown) to which the wirelesscomponent is to be attached, as shown in FIG. 5, and still maintain goodcontact and center the wireless device and housing on that surface.

The wireless device in the housing is attached to the surface of thedevice on which it is mounted by any conventional means such as solventbonding, adhesives, thermal bonding, such as by ultrasonic or vibrationwelding or by radiant heat or inductive heat of the plastic of theprotrusions and/or the plastic of the device.

Preferably, the protrusion are made of thermoplastic and are bonded byan energy based heating such as ultrasonic or vibration welding. Theprotrusions in addition to being stabilizers or centering devices alsoact as energy directors and preferentially absorb the energy at theirsurfaces adjacent the device against which they have been placed to forma molten thermoplastic plastic bond between the housing and the device.In this embodiment, the thermoplastic of the housing and the device towhich it is attached must be compatible and be capable of bonding toeach other. In another embodiment, they are compatible and one has alower melting point than the other. In a further embodiment, they arecompatible and the protrusions have a lower melting point than thedevice surface. In an additional embodiment the plastics are the same.

The protrusions are further distinguished in that they are thesacrificial material used to mechanically bond to the mating surface.Their dimensions, shape, and spacing can be customized to supply thesufficient amount of sacrificial material necessary to bond. Thissacrificial material is the only deformed component of the embodiment,where the electronics and immediately surrounding enclosing material isnot directly used in the bonding. Likewise the surface to which it bondssuch as the outer surface of a filter housing or filter capsule, or abiobag or a disposable probe, valve or connector is not deformed ordistorted.

Suitable thermoplastics include but are not limited to polyethylene,polypropylene, EVA copolymers, alpha olefins and metallocene copolymers,PFA, MFA, polycarbonate, vinyl copolymers such as PVC, polyamides suchas nylon, polyesters, acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene (ABS),polysulphone, polyethersulphone, polyarylsulphone, polyphenylsulphone,polyacrylonitrile, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and blends thereof.

Other shapes can be used for the protrusions 16 some of which are shownin FIGS. 6A-D. They may be formed in the shape of a circle 16D of FIG.6A, oval, 16E of FIG. 6B, pyramids, 16F of FIG. 6C or rectangular orsquare 16G of FIG. 6D. Other shapes and combinations will be obvious toone of ordinary skill in the art. As shown in FIGS. 6A and D there canbe 4 protrusions, while in FIGS. 6B and C there are only 2. One couldalso use 5 protrusions as shown in FIG. 6E. Other numbers of protrusionscan be used and would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The device can be made by several methods.

A first method is to preform a thermoplastic device formed of a housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component. Awireless component, such as an RFID chip and antenna is then placed intothe at least one recess. It may simply be laced in loosely or if desiredit be adhered in place using an adhesive such as a hot meltthermoplastic, if desired. A cover is then overmolded to at least onerecess and component with a thermoplastic to encapsulate the componentand form a second outer surface of the housing. Either first outersurface or the second outer surface of the housing has two or morespaced apart protrusions extending away from the selected outer surface.

A second method is to preform a thermoplastic device formed of a housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component. Awireless component, such as an RFID chip and antenna is then placed intothe at least one recess. It may simply be laced in loosely or if desiredit be adhered in place using an adhesive such as a hot meltthermoplastic, if desired. A cover is then overmolded to the at leastone recess and component with a thermoplastic to encapsulate thecomponent and form a second outer surface of the housing. Either firstouter surface or the second outer surface of the housing has two or morespaced apart protrusions extending away from the selected outer surface.One then holds the two or more protrusions of the device against athermoplastic assembly such as a cartridge outer housing and at leastpartially melt the two or more protrusions to form a bond between thethermoplastic assembly and the thermoplastic protrusions of the device.

A third method is to mold a thermoplastic device formed of a housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component. Awireless component, such as an RFID chip and antenna is then placed intothe at least one recess while still in the mold. A cover is thenovermolded to the at least one recess and component with a thermoplasticto encapsulate the component and form a second outer surface of thehousing. Either first outer surface or the second outer surface of thehousing has two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theselected outer surface of the device.

A fourth method is to preform a thermoplastic device formed of a housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component. Awireless component, such as an RFID chip and antenna is then placed intothe at least one recess. It may simply be laced in loosely or if desiredit be adhered in place using an adhesive such as a hot meltthermoplastic, if desired. A preformed cover is then placed over the atleast one recess and component with a thermoplastic and bonded to it bya thermal bond between the housing and cover such as by radiant heat,vibration or ultrasonic welding or by a hot melt adhesive or the like toenclose the component and form a second outer surface of the housing.Either first outer surface or the second outer surface of the housinghas two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theselected outer surface of the device.

A fifth method is to preform a thermoplastic device formed of a housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component. Awireless component, such as an RFID chip and antenna is then placed intothe at least one recess. It may simply be laced in loosely or if desiredit be adhered in place using an adhesive such as a hot meltthermoplastic, if desired. A preformed cover is then placed over the atleast one recess and component with a thermoplastic and the housing andcover are overmolded to bond the cover and housing together and toenclose the component and form a second outer surface of the housing.Either first outer surface or the second outer surface of the housinghas two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theselected outer surface of the device.

Other methods can also be used as part of the present invention andwould be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.

EXAMPLE

A wireless device, in this example a RFID tag formed of read/write chipand an antenna, available from Tagsys S.A. of France as catalog itemArio™ SM-ISO RFID tag was selected for this example. The wireless devicehad dimensions of 14 mm wide by 14 mm long and 2 mm high.

A housing having a cavity with inner cavity dimensions slightly largerthan the dimensions of the wireless device was formed of polypropylene.

The wireless device was tested before insertion into the housing byreading the device with a handheld reader available from Tagsys.

A cover was formed over and into the cavity of the housing toencapsulate the wireless device within the cavity by an injectionmolding machine.

The outer surface of the housing opposite the cavity opening containedthree projections in the form of rounded rectangular shapes similar tothose shown in FIG. 4.

The housing was placed against a thermoplastic (polypropylene) outersurface of a SHF filter available from Millipore Corporation ofBillerica, Mass. and bonded to the outer surface of the filter byheating the projections and the housing with standard vibration thermalwelder for a period of approximately 1 minutes while applying pressurebetween the two. The vibration was then stopped, the filter and housingallowed to cool and the wireless device was then tested and found to becapable of both reading and writing information.

1) A process for attaching a wireless electronic component in athermoplastic device to a thermoplastic assembly comprising the stepsof: a. forming a thermoplastic device formed of a housing having a firstclosed substantially planar inner surface and a first outer surface andat least one recess for holding the component; b. placing the componentinto the at least one recess; c. overmolding the at least one recess andcomponent with a thermoplastic to encapsulate the component and form asecond outer surface of the housing; wherein either the first outersurface or the second outer surface of the housing has two or morespaced apart protrusions extending away from the outer surface; d.holding the two or more protrusions of the device against athermoplastic assembly and at least partially melting the two or moreprotrusions to form a bond between the thermoplastic assembly and thethermoplastic of the device. 2) The process of claim 1 wherein thenumber of protrusions is at least three. 3) The process of claim 1wherein the number of protrusions is at least three and the protrusionsact as centering devices and energy directors for thermally bonding thedevice to the assembly. 4) The process of claim 1 wherein the assemblyis selected from the group consisting of a filter cassette, a filtercartridge, a filter housing, a biobag, a sampling device, a valve, aconnector, tubing and combinations thereof. 5) The process of claim 1wherein the protrusions are bonded to the thermoplastic of the assemblythrough the use of heat generated from a method selected from the groupconsisting of vibration welding, ultrasonic welding and radiant heat. 6)A device for mounting a wireless electronic component to a surfacecomprising a thermoplastic housing having a first closed substantiallyplanar inner surface and a first outer surface and at least one recessfor holding the component; a wireless electronic component retainedwithin the recess and an overmolded cover attached to the recess andhousing so as to encapsulate the component and form a second outersurface of the housing; wherein either the first outer surface or thesecond outer surface of the housing has two or more spaced apartprotrusions extending away from the outer surface. 7) A device formounting a wireless electronic component to a thermoplastic surfacecomprising a thermoplastic housing having a first closed substantiallyplanar inner surface and a first outer surface and at least one recessfor holding the component; a wireless electronic component retainedwithin the recess and an overmolded cover attached to the recess andhousing so as to encapsulate the component and form a second outersurface of the housing; wherein a surface selected from the groupconsisting of the first outer surface and the second outer surface ofthe housing has two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away fromthe outer surface that act as centering devices and energy directors forthermally bonding the device to the assembly. 8) A filter devicecomprising a filter cartridge contained within a thermoplastic housing,the housing having an inlet to an interior of the housing and exteriorof the filter cartridge, an outlet attached to an outlet of the filtercartridge in a liquid tight manner, the housing been formed of athermoplastic material and a device for mounting a wireless electroniccomponent being bonded to the thermoplastic surface of the housing, thedevice for mounting a wireless electronic component being formed of athermoplastic component housing having a first closed substantiallyplanar inner surface and a first outer surface and at least one recessfor holding the component; a wireless electronic component retainedwithin the recess and an overmolded cover attached to the recess andcomponent housing so as to encapsulate the component and form a secondouter surface of the component housing; wherein a surface selected fromthe group consisting of the first outer surface and the second outersurface of the component housing has two or more spaced apartprotrusions extending away from the outer surface that act as centeringdevices and energy directors for thermally bonding the device to theassembly. 9) A biobag comprising a bag formed of one or pieces of filmand having a central closed off cavity, the bag having one or moreinlets and one or more outlets to the cavity in a liquid tight manner,the bag been formed of one or more thermoplastic materials and a devicefor mounting a wireless electronic component being bonded to thethermoplastic surface of the bag, the device for mounting a wirelesselectronic component being formed of a thermoplastic component housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component; awireless electronic component retained within the recess and a coverattached to the recess and component housing so as to encapsulate thecomponent and form a second outer surface of the component housing;wherein a surface selected from the group consisting of the first outersurface and the second outer surface of the component housing has two ormore spaced apart protrusions extending away from the outer surface thatact as centering devices and energy directors for thermally bonding thedevice to the surface of the bag. 10) A filter device comprising afilter cartridge formed of a porous core surrounded by one or moreporous filter layers, an outer thermoplastic cage spaced from andsurrounding the one or more filters layers, a top closed end cap formedover a first end of the cage, one or more filters layers and core, asecond end cap having an opening in line with the core, the second endcap being formed over a second end of the cage, one or more filterslayers and core and the cage having a series of inlets to an outersurface of the one or more filter layers and an outlet attached toopening of the second end cap all in a liquid tight manner and a devicefor mounting a wireless electronic component being bonded to thethermoplastic surface of the housing, the device for mounting a wirelesselectronic component being formed of a thermoplastic component housinghaving a first closed substantially planar inner surface and a firstouter surface and at least one recess for holding the component; awireless electronic component retained within the recess and anovermolded cover attached to the recess and component housing so as toencapsulate the component and form a second outer surface of thecomponent housing; wherein a surface selected from the group consistingof the first outer surface and the second outer surface of the componenthousing has two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theouter surface that act as centering devices and energy directors forthermally bonding the device to an outer surface of the cage. 11) Adisposable connector assembly comprising a connector having a first endwhich can be selectively closed and opened to the environment, a bodydownstream of the first end having a bore through which fluid may flowwhen the first end id in an open position, and a second end on apportionof the body downstream from the first end, the second end being attachedto a tubing at a first end of the tubing and a second end of the tubingbeing attached to a device selected from the group consisting of filtercapsule, a bag and a second disposable connector, the connector havingat least an outer portion formed of a thermoplastic material and adevice for mounting a wireless electronic component being bonded to thethermoplastic portion of the connector, the device for mounting awireless electronic component being formed of a thermoplastic componenthousing having a first closed substantially planar inner surface and afirst outer surface and at least one recess for holding the component; awireless electronic component retained within the recess and anovermolded cover attached to the recess and component housing so as toencapsulate the component and form a second outer surface of thecomponent housing; wherein a surface selected from the group consistingof the first outer surface and the second outer surface of the componenthousing has two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theouter surface that act as centering devices and energy directors forthermally bonding the device to the thermoplastic portion of theconnector. 12) A disposable sampling device comprising a sampling needlehaving a first end and a second end, a tubing having a first end and asecond end, the first end of the tubing being connected to the secondend of the needle and the second end of the tubing being connected toone or more thermoplastic sample bags so as to establish a fluid pathfrom the first end of the needle to the one or more sample bags and adevice for mounting a wireless electronic component being bonded to thethermoplastic surface of the sampling device, the device for mounting awireless electronic component being formed of a thermoplastic componenthousing having a first closed substantially planar inner surface and afirst outer surface and at least one recess for holding the component; awireless electronic component retained within the recess and anovermolded cover attached to the recess and component housing so as toencapsulate the component and form a second outer surface of thecomponent housing; wherein a surface selected from the group consistingof the first outer surface and the second outer surface of the componenthousing has two or more spaced apart protrusions extending away from theouter surface that act as centering devices and energy directors forthermally bonding the device to the sampling device. 13) The process ofclaim 1 wherein the thermoplastic of the component housing and thethermoplastic of the assembly to which it is attached are compatible.